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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330196">Alone, Together</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/benicemurphy/pseuds/benicemurphy'>benicemurphy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>COVID19 quarantine fic, M/M, POV Outsider, Professor Keith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:07:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/benicemurphy/pseuds/benicemurphy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dr. Keith Kogane’s class moves online due to quarantine orders, his students become intrigued with the Mystery Man in the background of his video lectures.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>144</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>864</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Alone, Together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sukihi/gifts">Sukihi</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A gift for my friend Suki for being a wonderful, bright spot in so many of my fandoms! I hope you enjoy this silly fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Although live online seminars in place of actual in-person classes isn’t <em>exactly</em> how all of the students hoped to do the whole shelter-in-place virtual classes thing, at least the one professor who insisted on maintaining their regularly scheduled time slot happens to be the one most of the students don’t mind giving their full attention for fifty minutes three times a week.</p>
<p>The first class starts as expected — technological problems, troubleshooting, a lot of “Can you hear me now?” Several students are late, claiming internet issues, but all of the other students know it just means they forgot about it until their alarm went off at the very last minute and they had to put away anything incriminating before getting online. The students with webcams are expected to use them (Dr. Kogane claims he’s somehow able to see who has access to a webcam, and he proves it when a frat boy who mistakenly thought he could set up his laptop by the pool while drinking a beer <em>inside</em> the pool gets caught with his pants off — literally), and those who don’t have webcams are still expected to be active in the chat box.</p>
<p>His class is only moderately less engaging online than it is in the classroom. One plus is that he wears the most adorable reading glasses (apparently he’s far-sighted). Another is seeing his two big, fat cats saunter around in the background, occasionally jumping up into the professor’s lap or swiping things off of the desk beside him. Dr. Kogane has excellent reflexes.</p>
<p>It’s going fine; there are some students who are more engaged than others, some who stop showing up after a few sessions, and some who mysteriously lose webcam access when they no longer feel like making themselves look presentable.</p>
<p>But it’s session five — Wednesday of Week 2, when everyone is pretty much ready to go crazy from boredom — that a miracle happens.</p>
<p>Someone, someone <em>mysterious</em>, appears in their virtual classroom.</p>
<p>Well, he doesn’t really appear <em>in</em> the virtual classroom, but he does begin to appear in the background of Dr. Kogane’s lecture.</p>
<p>The first time it happens, they can’t even see his face. They just hear him in the background.</p>
<p>“Keith? I’m home.”</p>
<p>Dr. Kogane’s eyes flit up to look at The Mystery Man over his webcam. “I’m in a class,” he says.</p>
<p>“Oh, sorry. I’ll leave you to it. Come find me when you’re done.”</p>
<p>“Sure.”</p>
<p>Dr. Kogane doesn’t smile much in their regular lectures — Radiation Processes in Astrophysics isn’t the peppiest topic ever — but he smiles at The Mystery Man, ever so slightly, but enough for someone to send a quick “Ohohoho???” in the separate class group chat that someone started so they could pass around notes and help each other with assignments. It’s followed by several eye emojis from several other people, which means everyone is exactly as bored as they post about on social media.</p>
<p>The second time, they <em>almost</em> catch a glimpse.</p>
<p>“I know you’re in class, but you need to eat,” Mystery Man says. Briefly, an extremely buff, extremely attractive forearm enters the frame to place what looks like a plate of cheese cubes and raw vegetables with dipping sauce in front of the professor.</p>
<p>“Thanks.” He’s smiling again.</p>
<p>The group chat pings.</p>
<p>
  <em>Roommate?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Brother?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>No way that’s his brother</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>does your roommate bring you crudités</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Does your BROTHER bring you crudités??</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe it’s his boyfriend</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Is Dr. Kogane gay?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I wasn’t even sure he was human until we saw his living room in the background</em>
</p>
<p>“Guys? Everything alright? Is this thing frozen?”</p>
<p>The group chat stops lighting up as the students realize they’ve all been apparently ignoring their professor. The chat inside the virtual classroom informs him that they can see and hear him just fine. Eight pairs of eyes look up from their phones and back to the screen at the same time.</p>
<p>“Alright guys, I know this stuff isn’t the most exciting subject matter in the world, but it’s really important and we’re not going to have time to go over it again, so pay attention.”</p>
<p>The buzz dies down, but the questions absolutely do not.</p>
<p>It’s Week 4 before they see the Mystery Man again. Everyone is going out of their minds with boredom. The group chat is filled with pictures of bad first attempts at painting, crochet, even woodwork. Everyone shares pictures of their meals. Somehow, this class has become friends through sheer forced separate-togetherness.</p>
<p>In the middle of the Week 4 Friday lecture, there’s a bang that causes Dr. Kogane to startle, halting him mid-sentence.</p>
<p>“Keith!”</p>
<p>“What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“Keith! Are you alright?”</p>
<p>Dr. Kogane pushes away from his desk and looks like he’s about to stand, but Mystery Man beats him to the punch and <em>lifts</em> him up out of his seat.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank god,” Mystery Man says. “I saw an ambulance in the parking lot and panicked.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” Dr. Kogane grunts against Mystery Man’s shoulder, because he’s been pulled into a very tight, decidedly not brotherly hug. Dr. Kogane hugs him back, then pulls away enough to look up at him (he’s <em>tall</em>). “I’m <em>fine</em>, Shiro. I didn’t even know there was an ambulance. I’m actually in the middle of— <em>oh</em>.”</p>
<p>Dr. Kogane springs away from the Mystery Man and looks over at the classroom. All twelve of the students are looking right back at him with rapt attention.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wow, never thought I’d see Dr. Kogane blush.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It’s a good look</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His “brother” seems to think so too</em>
</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Mystery Man says, looking adorably bashful for someone who must be well over six feet tall and hasn’t missed a workout in years. “I’ll get out of your hair.” He backs away with an equally adorable wave to the camera. “Sorry for interrupting! Learn well,” he says to the students.</p>
<p>
  <em>holy shit that man is beautiful</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Beautiful man for a beautiful man?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Guys there’s no way Dr. Kogane is gay.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>if he’s not he sure pretended well with that hug</em>
</p>
<p>“Sorry about the interruption. Where were we?”</p>
<p>Eventually, the Mystery Man must figure out Dr. Kogane’s class schedule, because he makes fewer and fewer on-screen appearances. Occasionally, they can hear the door close when he gets home, or the microwave in the kitchen which must be adjacent to the living room. Sometimes he scurries across the background on his way to some other part of the house. Mostly, though, he’s out of the picture, and class goes back to being exactly as interesting as an online lecture on Radiation Processes in Astrophysics can be, even with an absolute babe of a professor.</p>
<p>Soon, the midterm arrives, and then the inevitable post-midterm review.</p>
<p>“I noticed that several of you missed a couple of the same questions, so we’re going to spend today’s lecture reviewing those concepts, since we’ll have to build upon those to learn the material that follows.”</p>
<p>It’s essentially a Q &amp; A lecture, wherein Dr. Kogane answers specific questions about which he normally wouldn’t go into so much detail during lecture. Normally, anyone who needs in-depth help would need to seek him out during office hours. But Dr. Kogane is a great teacher — one of the few who genuinely cares that his students are learning, not just if they pass or fail — so he takes the time to make sure that <em>everyone</em> understands.</p>
<p>Of course, for those of them who already get it, it basically means they have extra time to chat while the others are focused on the lecture.</p>
<p>
  <em>So that hot guy comes home in like, the middle of the day. What do you think he does?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>maybe he works nights</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Or super early like at a cafe or whatever</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>No way that guy works at a cafe. Probably a gym</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>stereotyping much?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Whatever, he’s jacked</em>
</p>
<p>“Alright, it seems like we’ve about covered that topic, since nobody appears to have any more questions. Let me know if I need to come back, okay? I’m here to help. For now, we’ll move onto the next problem.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Are we running long today?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>We are a little over. Is Mystery Man back yet? Anybody know?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>never heard the door</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>maybe that’s why we’re going over. no hunky hunky man meat to keep us on schedule</em>
</p>
<p>“Hunky hunky...” Dr. Kogane’s eyes go huge, and he clears his throat to try to cover the strangled noise he makes upon reading the message that had been accidentally sent to the class chat instead of the group chat.</p>
<p>
  <em>fuck fuck fuck</em>
</p>
<p>“If you guys could, uh, refrain from discussing your personal life in here, please,” Dr. Kogane says. It’s pretty clear he’s figured out that they’re talking about him, but he plays it off well, considering how red his face is.</p>
<p>
  <em>That blush is still cute though.</em>
</p>
<p>After that, Dr. Kogane is dilligent about ending class exactly on time. Although it’s admittedly easier to focus on the material without Mystery Man bopping around in the background, the class misses him.</p>
<p>
  <em>I guess we’re not going to find out who he is after all</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>damn</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Aww, that’s too bad. He seemed nice.</em>
</p>
<p>The extra coverage of the midterm material turns out to be a huge help on the final. The class average, according to the virtual classroom website, is 89%. As a reward, Dr. Kogane makes the last lecture optional. He has to hold the session, but there’s no more material to cover, so anyone who shows up will just be asking questions or reviewing the final.</p>
<p>Those of them who have been active in the private group chat all attend by mutual agreement. Aside from hoping to catch one last glimpse of Dr. Kogane in his natural environment before the semester ends, it also feels a bit like the end of an era. Who knows if any of them will keep in touch after this?</p>
<p>When Dr. Kogane opens the classroom, he actually seems surprised that anyone has shown up.</p>
<p>“Oh, hey guys. Glad you could make it.” He smiles. It’s devastating. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anyone to show up.”</p>
<p>There’s a pause in which someone types in the class chat. It says, <em>We just wanted to thank you for a great semester. You’re an awesome professor.</em></p>
<p>Dr. Kogane smiles again, a little watery this time. “Thank you. That means a lot. I know it was a bit of an adjustment going from a physical classroom to a virtual one, but I really appreciate you all hanging in there and making the semester a good one. I don’t know if I told you all before, but this was my first time teaching an online course, and I was pretty nervous to get it right.”</p>
<p>
  <em>You did great. We’re all going to give you great reviews.</em>
</p>
<p>He laughs. “Don’t tell me that! They’re supposed to be anonymous.” Someone sends a winking face in the class chat, and Dr. Kogane laughs again. “Thanks. I know most online classes don’t actually meet and hold live lectures, but I thought it was important for this material to have an interactive classroom. Even if we did get a few interruptions throughout the semester.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Remember that guy skinny dipping on the first day?</em>
</p>
<p>“I try not to,” he chuckles.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh yeah that guy dates my roommate. He dropped like two days later lol</em>
</p>
<p>There’s noise in the background of the video. Dr. Kogane turns to the person off-camera and smiles, that same smile from early in the semester when they first started speculating about the Mystery Man.</p>
<p>“Hey Keith, look who came to see you!”</p>
<p>The Mystery Man wanders into the frame holding a giant orange cat like a baby. It’s possibly the grumpiest cat in the world.</p>
<p>“Aww hey, buddy!” Dr. Kogane greets the cat. “Did Daddy bother you during your afternoon nap?”</p>
<p>The Mystery Man starts gently bouncing the cat in his arms.</p>
<p>“Noooo, he got up on Daddy’s desk and knocked over a bunch of papers, and now Daddy has to reorganize all of his work from the past two days.”</p>
<p>“Oh no, Shiro,” Dr. Kogane laughs. “Okay. Give him here.” He takes the cat and scratches his fuzzy little head. “You’re not supposed to jump on Daddy’s desk, bud. You know that. Yes you do. Who’s a big dumb boy?”</p>
<p>The private group chat lights up.</p>
<p>
  <em>this is fucking adorable</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>can we please confirm that this a romantic relationship if they’re raising children together???</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>XD</em>
</p>
<p>“So, this is Pudge. We were originally going to call him Red, but our friend Pidge said that was unoriginal.”</p>
<p>
  <em>So why Pudge?</em>
</p>
<p>“Like Pidge, but he’s a big fat fatty, so Pudge.”</p>
<p>“She hates it,” the Mystery Man — Shiro — says. “Which makes it even funnier.”</p>
<p>“She calls him Red now.”</p>
<p>
  <em>lmaooooo they’re both trolls, amazing</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>i love them. we stan two trolls</em>
</p>
<p>“Anyway, does anyone have any questions about the material? I know the semester is over, but I’m still here.”</p>
<p>There’s a pause while he waits for someone to ask anything. Nobody does.</p>
<p>“Well, that sentiment stands, even once final grades are posted. If you’re ever struggling with something, feel free to stop by my office hours. I mean, I assume we’ll reopen at some point, and then maybe I can meet some of you face to face.” He sighs. “And if you guys are struggling in other ways, please, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always here to help.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Thanks, Dr. K.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Yeah, thanks a lot. For everything.</em>
</p>
<p>“Well, if nobody has anything you need to talk about, I guess we can wrap this up and bring the semester to an end, officially. What do you think?”</p>
<p>Nobody says anything. It’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye now.</p>
<p>“Okay, I guess that’s it.” Dr. Kogane picks up the cat’s paw and makes him wave at the camera. “Pudge and I are gonna go help my husband pick up his office now. Thank you all, again, for a great semester. Good luck with everything you do. My metaphorical door is always open.” He smiles and waves one last time at the camera, and then shuts it off for good. The virtual classroom closes a few seconds later, and they’re all kicked out of the chat.</p>
<p>The private group chat — now the only one they can use — pings again.</p>
<p>
  <em>So, idk if this is lame or whatever, but if anyone wants to add me on snapchat, here’s the link</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>yeah let’s keep in touch, ok guys???</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Definitely.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe once we can go out again, we can get some coffee or something?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>yeah i’m down</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>cool</em>
</p>
<p>There’s another silence. The semester is over.</p>
<p>
  <em>man Dr. Kogane’s husband is such a babe</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I TOLD YOU he was gay!</em>
</p>
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